22, 2009, a 79-71 loss to Minnesota in the first round of...

December 08, 2011

22, 2009, a 79-71 loss to Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Joyce Center.

But, don't forget, that was P-S ---- Pre-Skylar.

Once Skylar Diggins, the face of women's college basketball, has anchored the Irish backcourt, Notre Dame has been chalk. No upsets. Every loss the last two years has been to a ranked team. No such thing as a good loss? Well, maybe there can be losses that don't hurt as much as others.

Jonathan Tsipis, in his ninth year as an assistant under McGraw, is the Irish schedulemaster. His mission is to get the team ready for the rough and tumble Big East Conference, while at the same time with an eye on proper positioning for the NCAA Tournament.

The mandate doesn't include shying away from competition.

"On top of everything, we're trying to look at different styles," Tsipis said. "We know what kind of styles they play in the Big East. We look (non-conference) teams who play a similar style."

Advertisement

Quality opponents help. Notre Dame's trip to Purdue Saturday will weigh heavily on the minds of the power-brokers who put together the NCAA Tournament.

Tsipis felt Notre Dame's interest in playing the best may have been the difference between a No. 2 and a No. 3 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, when the Irish lost to Texas A&M in the national championship game.

"When I got here and (took over scheduling), that was (McGraw's philosophy)," Tsipis said. "She thought it prepared us.

"When you look on the men's side, there's that scrutiny of, 'If I can buy this many wins, and play some BCS (conference level) teams, it's going to be cut-throat in the league.' It's going to be just as cut-throat in the women's Big East as well.

"Some of that goes into dollars. There's a coach, they're trying to save their job... Now, we have some trying to do that on our side, and it's cost them."

Notre Dame's only loss this season was to Baylor. The setback cost the third-ranked Irish just one place in the national polls.

"(The voters) credit the schools that are willing to play (the elite)," Tsipis said. "A team might have been 7-0, 8-0, 9-0. If they haven't played anybody, they're not going to jump them four spots up just because four other teams ahead of them lost.

"I've always seen it as a bonus. We're not going anything in the Big East thrown at us that we haven't seen. Really, in the NCAA Tournament, your kids have that understanding, 'You know what, we're playing some non-conference teams, we've played Tennessee; we've played Baylor; we've played Purdue; we've played Kentucky. We can draw upon that.'"

The Irish drew on that Wednesday night. Given their early-season resume, Marquette was little more than a speed bump on the way to a couple significant pre-Christmas battles.